Mayfield Haiku is a series of fourteen poems and photographs of sculptural interventions created by local residents at Mayfield & Easthouses Development Trust. A limited edition book of the works, prefaced with an essay by poet Ken Cockburn, has been published to accompany an exhibition of the artworks in local shops and a rolling programme of billboard posters, displayed in Mayfield Square advertising hoardings 29th October 2012 – 10th February 2013.

]]>https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/mayfield-haiku/feed/0susantgrantwoodestatesshadybricksbarracksemptyIPod X-Rayhttps://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/ipod-x-ray/
https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/ipod-x-ray/#respondThu, 08 Nov 2012 16:10:13 +0000http://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/?p=1275Continue reading →]]>IPod X-Ray Large scale photographic artworks created by local young people and on permanent display at Y2K youth project. Created with Midlothian Artist in Residence Susan T Grant and residents of Mayfield & Easthouses, as part of the two year pArtners reside residency, funded by Creative Scotland and Y2K and supported by Midlothian Council and Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop. Launching this weekend, details here.
Click to view slideshow.]]>https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/ipod-x-ray/feed/0susantgrantMayfield Haiku & IPod X-Ray: Collaborative artworks launchhttps://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/mayfield-haiku-ipod-x-ray-collaborative-artworks-launch/
https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/11/01/mayfield-haiku-ipod-x-ray-collaborative-artworks-launch/#respondThu, 01 Nov 2012 17:01:01 +0000http://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/?p=1167Continue reading →]]>Before my tantalising last 5 Top Ten choices, an invite to the first of the Reside art launch events! Next Saturday 10th November as below, or preview and purchase the book online here… A worthy Christmas Gift for any loved one

Mayfield Haiku: A series of haiku poems and photographic artworks of sculptural interventions, created in Mayfield by members of Mayfield & Easthouses Development Trust art group. A limited edition book of the works, prefaced with an essay by poet Ken Cockburn, will be launched alongside a display of the artworks in Bogwood shops and a rolling programme of billboard posters, exhibited in Mayfield Square 29th October 2012 – 10th February 2013. Funded by Coalfields Regeneration Trust.

IPod X-Ray: Large scale photographic artworks created by local young people and on permanent display at Y2K youth project.

On the subject of treehouses, one of my very favourite structures is this small but perfectly formed structure tucked away behind the West Church of Charles Taylor Woodwork. Easily missed, I spotted it one day by chance. The shape of a boat, it sails amongst the lower branches; a beautiful structure and really quirky thing. And quirky should very definitely be celebrated.

Charles built it himself with his children: “The children are 12 and 14 now so it’s not much used nowadays, but the fun was in the process of building it, rather than the end result. It has to be very high up because I wanted to disuade people from using it – I made a rope ladder which hangs down from the back in the manner of a fishing net. The shape evolved around the structural opportunity the tree gave us – it just became obvious.

One of the best stories I heard was that there was a little child in the public car park at the back saying to his mother, “Mum, mum there’s a boat in the tree!” and the mother said, “Don’t be stupid.” But of course the boy was right. And then I had a minister who came up to me one day saying very drolly that I was obviously planning for the next flood.”

Some of the most interesting examples of Midlothian architecture and community are found at the Bilston Glen Treehouses. Originally a protest site, started in 2002 in reaction to a planned re-routing of the A701, it is now an ever-evolving activist community with visitors coming from all over the world.

People come for a variety of reasons – all are welcome as long as they contribute towards the community in some way through house maintenance, communal cooking or tending the vegetable plot. There is a small group of permanent residents who have the right to the best houses, with the ones situated high in the trees used mainly by visitors. While some of the houses are just basic shelters, others have been lovingly designed – recycled crafted structures with heating, carpets and bookcases. The higher houses are lashed to the trees using bicycle inner tubes and ropes, allowing the trees to move, and are taken down every couple of years to avoid damage.

I’ve always been fascinated by ‘self-built’ communities – those purposely created rather than those that organically evolve. Stereotyped by the hippy commune in recent decades, there is a wide range of examples – indeed often bound by common idealogy – the eco-village; the co-op; the Christian community. How humans organise themselves and design communal architecture to live together harmoniously is fascinating. Nowadays most of us live in urban environments with varying degrees of contact with our neighbours. Whatever your politics, settlements like Bilston help you reflect on how you would design your ideal community.

In this age of tensions between deficit reductions, benefit cuts and housing crisis, the value of our welfare state this last century is brought into focus. In a global context, is there anything more humane and charitable than a system that, at base line, distributes wealth to shelter the low waged and the disadvantaged?

Clichés now, but it really wasn’t so very long ago that everyone was sharing outside toilets and sleeping five to a bed. Recent conversations I’ve had with Dalkeith residents tell of overcrowded, low quality housing that was a joy to escape. My own grandparents, like many, took the classic twentieth century domestic journey from a crowded tenement flat to their own wee post-war prefab, to over 30 years of home comforts in a 2-bedroomed council flat (which I can confirm enjoyed some blindingly patterned furnishings over the years).

Local authorities were required by law to provide council housing after 1919 and Lloyd George’s “Homes fit for Heroes” campaign, sparked by concerns over the poor physical condition of army recruits. But it was not until after World War II that the age of the council house arrived.

A 1930s social housing guide that I shouldn’t enjoy reading, has a recommended ratio for the optimum number of residential properties to associated community halls. By the 1950s and 60s pure demand meant this ratio was blown out of the water, as were the housing space and building standards. I love the leveling repetition of all planned housing schemes and the simplicity of Corporation design, but do grieve the lack of planned public space in this era.

Midlothian has its fair share of such post-war housing, but has been unusual amongst Scottish local authorities in building new stock in recent times. Here’s to the humble council house. And the community centres that can sit alongside them.

Designed by Morris and Steedman architects, famous in the 1950s and 60s for designing a range of Modernist buildings, especially domestic properties. They designed some of the most radical architecture in Scotland during this post-war period. Their second commissioned house has featured in this project already – Wilson House, Lasswade – but my favourite is Marchwell, Silverburn, in the foothills of the Pentlands.

Built in 1964, it’s created in the form of a “white-walled spiral”* that is integrated with the garden wall, leaving the front door as the only exit point. The curved glazed colonnade acts like a sundial as light moves around the south facing building.

Sited with a main road close by, the original owners had young children so shelter was important. Standing alone on an open hillside, the design echoes traditional circular sheep shelters found across Britain. That’s the ideal it represents to me – a C20th minimalist shelter; crafted domestic insulation from the modern world.

Which is great until you fancy a chat / need to borrow a cup of sugar from the next door neighbours.

The original the former Dalkeith High School was designed in 1938 by William Scott and opened in 1940, with this addition built by Reid and Forbes in 1956 – 9. A B-Listed building, it lay empty for around nine years, eventually being demolished earlier this year to mixed reviews.

I always loved this building. I used to live in Northumberland and always looked forward to seeing it as I drove between Edinburgh and home. I think it was a great example of 1950s brick modernism with its (albeit cold) metal windows, cantilevered concrete porch and patterned brickwork; the clock tower standing as an imposing monument to education and order. (I assume it succeeded…) It was like a mini Scottish Giles Gilbert Scott, designer of the Battersea and Tate Modern power stations, Cambridge University Library and the red telephone box. Ach weel.

]]>https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/education-dalkeith-high-school/feed/0susantgrantDALKEITHHIGH272LEISURE: Hillend Ski Skopehttps://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/leisure-hillend-ski-skope/
https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/leisure-hillend-ski-skope/#respondTue, 31 Jul 2012 08:29:02 +0000http://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/?p=950Continue reading →]]>So, as the Reside project draws to a close, now for my top Midlothian architectural choices. Not necessarily the best known structures and buildings, but instead those that have stuck in my mind as I’ve travelled round Midlothian over the months and those that reflect varied aspects of life here. There is, as always, a runners-up list of curiosities including St Nicholas Church Alms House in Dalkeith; Bonnyrigg’s old Scotmid; the Applehouse, Fairfield House; Arniston’s Lion and Elephant Gates; Soutra Aisle; the Sacred Heart Church, Penicuik. The list could go on; go see.

Firstly not a building, rather a very flat structure. Hillend Artificial Ski Slope was threatened with closure in 2010, but the fight to save the centre was the focus of an internet campaign supported by more than 27,000 people and Sportscotland and the Scottish government stepped in last year with £1m of funding to secure its future. I have it on good authority that Hillend is Europe’s longest and most challenging artificial ski slope.

Hillend is a favourite of mine because it reminds me of the chalk figures found across England, particularly the Uffington White Horse, the oldest hill figure in Britain. Hillend is like a modern version; a giant abstract artwork that’s been etched onto on the Pentland hillside to be seen from miles around.

Artwork by Susan T Grant

]]>https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/leisure-hillend-ski-skope/feed/0susantgranthillendSchool of Funhttps://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/school-of-fun/
https://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/school-of-fun/#respondFri, 27 Jul 2012 14:24:50 +0000http://midlothianartist.wordpress.com/?p=989Continue reading →]]>This Friday, the final contribution from groups and individuals across Midlothian, before the project bows out with my Artist’s Top Ten (cue Led Zeppelin…) Thanks to all who have taken part in the project and to all who read it!

Exhibition to follow in a few months – details here in due course…

Pupils from Saltersgate School have been creating ‘Saltersvision’ films and animation over the past couple of years with the help of teachers Connie McGrail, John Schofield and Amy Collop.

They recently created the film ‘School of Fun’ to contribute to the Reside project, exploring their favourite activities at sites around Saltersgate, a school in Dalkeith which provides Primary and Secondary education for children and young people with additional learning needs. The artwork featured here is the animated title-page, created using stop-motion animation. It features a plan of the school with the various classrooms which were coloured by pupils according to the teachers’ favourite colours.